Chapter 1

When the black hood was removed, a blinding light shone on Feng Bujue's face, making it difficult for him to open his eyes.

But after a few seconds, he adjusted to the brightness. Then, he squinted and began to observe his surroundings.

At that moment, he was sitting on a chair in a cubic room, four meters on each side. All six sides of the room were made of concrete, and all six sides were covered in graffiti-like designs.

There were no windows in the room, and the only exit was a heavy-looking metal door.

In the center of the room were two chairs with backs and a very ordinary wooden table. There was also a dirty-looking desk lamp on the table. Since he didn't see any wires, Jue-ge deduced that the lamp had a built-in battery (in Feng Bujue's time, micro-battery technology was quite mature, and many appliances used built-in batteries. Usually, a set of batteries could last for months or even a year, and many manufacturers also provided door-to-door replacement services).

In addition, in the corner behind and to the side of Feng Bujue... where the ceiling met two walls, there was also a very obvious surveillance camera. The camera's plug was connected to the only outlet in the room. That outlet was also near the ceiling. Normally, unless you were Yao Ming's height, you couldn't reach the outlet or unplug it, even if you were standing on the table.

Of course, besides these, the most noteworthy thing in the room was undoubtedly the person who had removed the hood from Jue-ge's head.

It was a man who looked to be in his thirties, wearing a black casual suit with a white shirt and black tie.

His appearance could be considered handsome, and he also gave off a mature, detached feeling. The hint of laziness and gloom in his eyes was also a very captivating charm.

"My name is Gu Chen." Gu Chen didn't waste any words. He cut straight to the point. "Next, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please answer me seriously." As he spoke, he sat down in the chair across the table and casually placed the black hood he was holding on the table.

"Heh... may I... refuse?" Feng Bujue asked with a smile, while subtly trying to struggle against the handcuffs (his hands were still cuffed).

"Using a smile to mask your inner thoughts and politely asking a meaningless question... in response to my request." Gu Chen looked at Jue-ge calmly and said, "Very good, quite like me when I was younger." As he spoke, he took out a thermos from his coat, unscrewed the lid (the lid itself was designed to be used as a cup), and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Say... Mr. Big Brother, how old are you this year?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Seventy-six." Gu Chen replied without changing his expression.

"Oh~" Feng Bujue's expression was quite interesting. "You're really well-maintained..."

"It's called 'Transcendent Spirit Body.'" Gu Chen replied. "It has nothing to do with maintenance."

"Sounds amazing..." Feng Bujue felt that the other party was talking nonsense with a straight face, so he cooperated and talked nonsense with him.

"It's alright, I'm still far from Woody." Gu Chen replied. "But dealing with trash like Zachariah is relatively easy."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about..." Feng Bujue said. "How did you know..."

"I don't recall... allowing you to ask questions." Gu Chen interrupted him directly. "You're here to answer questions, you don't have the right to ask questions. I'm chatting with you out of kindness and interest, you'd better not overstep your boundaries."

"Okay, okay." Feng Bujue's eyes changed slightly. "Ask away, I'll answer as best I can."

Gu Chen paused for half a second, then opened his mouth and said, "Where are we?"

"Huh?" Feng Bujue was immediately stunned.

"Didn't hear me clearly? Then I'll ask again." Gu Chen repeated with emphasis, "We, where are we?"

"In..." Feng Bujue looked around. "An interrogation room?"

"I'm not asking about the environment, I'm asking about the location." Gu Chen continued.

"How would I possibly know that?" Feng Bujue widened his eyes. "Bao Qing cuffed me at home and put a black hood on me; as soon as I left the building, you guys stuffed me into a car... you guys brought me here the whole way, and you're asking me?"

"Answer my questions properly." Gu Chen said coldly. "Or I'll shave your hairline back five centimeters."

"Hey!" When Feng Bujue heard the words "hairline," his expression changed drastically, and he immediately raised his voice and shouted, "Do you even talk about human rights? Do you have any humanity!"

"It's one thing for others to say that to me, but is it appropriate for you to talk to me about human rights and humanity?" Gu Chen replied calmly. "Not to mention your various actions that crossed the boundaries of law and morality when you were a minor... just the fact that you secretly investigated the 'Nine Divisions' gives me the right to make you disappear from the world in any way."

"Bullshit! Trying to scare me?" Feng Bujue still didn't back down. He shouted loudly, "I want to see your boss!"

"I am the chief of the Nine Divisions." Gu Chen put down his coffee cup and looked directly into Jue-ge's eyes. "My only superiors are all in B City... here, I'm the highest authority." He suddenly slapped the table. "Now, answer me quickly, where are we! Otherwise, I'll immediately call in a few strong men to come in and flick your little brother to death!"

"Two hundred Renmin Avenue, underground." The next second, Feng Bujue blurted out those nine words like lightning.

"Good!" Gu Chen said in English, then returned to his calm expression. "Please explain your reasoning."

"It's just like that..." Feng Bujue replied with a reluctant look on his face. "First of all, what I investigated last time can be ruled out... I know that soon after I found that place, you guys moved and turned that place into a pseudo-stronghold that was like a trap. Secondly, places more than forty kilometers away from my house can be ruled out, because we couldn't have gone that far in that amount of time... So, within the remaining range, based on my physical feeling and sense of direction, and using the frequency of my breathing to precisely calculate the time, and using my body's feeling to calculate the speed... and then calculating factors such as traffic lights, uphill and downhill slopes, I can get a distance data with an error of no more than fifty meters. With my understanding of S City's map, I came to the above conclusion..." He paused after saying all this in one breath. "Of course, I also considered the possibility that you used some method to make my sense of time and space change greatly. If that's the case, I really wouldn't know where I am."

"Well, not bad, strong reconnaissance ability, and you thought about it thoroughly." Gu Chen still looked lazy, took another sip of coffee, and continued, "The key is... you're quite good at pretending to be stupid, you have potential."

"Hehe... thank you for the compliment." Feng Bujue gave a dry laugh, not feeling happy at all.

"Alright, next question." Gu Chen quickly continued, "At this stage, how much do you know about the supernatural forces in the human world?"

"Not much." Feng Bujue replied.

Gu Chen didn't respond to him, but the silence... made it even more stressful.

"Really not much..." Feng Bujue quickly added, "The relevant information is too complicated, each with its own claims, and I can't tell which set is correct."

"Then how did you kill Zachariah today?" Gu Chen asked. "According to the information Bao Qing and the others sent back, they could still detect the other party's presence on their way to your house, but when they arrived downstairs, they clearly felt the other party's death."

"I did hide a magic array in the wall (the place where Asathoth left his palm print. Before repairing it, Jue-ge made a copy of a relatively versatile suppression-type magic array inside, just in case)... and during the conversation with Zachariah, I led him into the range of the magic array." Feng Bujue replied. "However, I didn't kill him. A guy named Simon (Feng Bujue had seen Simon once in *Death Answers*, knew his name, but never knew who he was) killed him."

"Oh... I see." Gu Chen muttered thoughtfully.

Two seconds later, he stood up from his chair, put away his thermos, turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll just ask this much for now. Next... I'll give you a task."

"What is it?" Feng Bujue asked with a puzzled look.

"There's an evil spirit in this room." Gu Chen's words made Feng Bujue gasp. "You can't see him right now, but I can tell you that he will take action soon after I leave." As he spoke, he opened the metal door and walked out. "I'll give you ten minutes. If you can get out of here alive... we'll talk more."

Before he finished speaking, he closed the door from the outside.